A new center for the study of genetic factors in heart disease,including arteriosclerosis, is expected to open at the Universityof California, San Francisco, with $20 million in financing fromDaichi Pharmaceutical Co. of Tokyo.

Daichi would receive a first chance to negotiate licensingagreements on any patents that may result from the work atthe center, which would continue to publish all its findings inopen scientific literature, as required by the Howard HughesMedical Institute, which funds the laboratory.

"It's still in the discussion phase," said Lewis T. Williams,associate director of the UCSF Cardiovascular ResearchInstitute, who was identified as a possible head of the centerby Daichi.

The five-year financing agreement is expected to be completedwithin a few months, according to Karl Hittelman, associate vicechancellor at UCSF.

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